About P. K. Vandcast:
P. K. Vandcast was born in El Paso, Texas, the son of a rodeo clown. His mother passed away when “Van” was four and he grew up following the rodeo circuit wherever his father could get work. Raised around ropers, bull riders, and broncobusters, he learned to love the tales of the Old West— tales tall, small, true, and blue.
What inspires you to write?
I’m inspired by the little things in life. There is trove of treasure in everyday things, which many take for granted. The smallest incident can easily turn into an amazing journey.
Tell us about your writing process.
Once I get an idea, I mull it over, sometimes for weeks or months until I have my basic premise (I’ve got several projects going at the same time). Then I outline. After the initial outline, I get the cast of characters together. Then it’s time for a break or I work on something else so that when I come back I can consider a different perspective (or several different perspectives). I don’t change the outline at this point (and it will change eventually– it always does), because before I even write the first line of any project, I write my ending. I know, I know. Stephen King will spend weeks, even months on his hook… and I suppose I do that as well, but my hook, my opener only comes when I know how my story ends. The way I look at it is, I don’t know how to start or what path to take unless I know where I’m going (military training perhaps). So, I suppose I do put a lot of time into my opening hook; however, it only comes as a result of the premise and my ending. Once I’ve got the ending. I just type and hit my outline points. Then it’s rewrite, rewrite, rewrite until I either publish the thing, set it aside and finish it whenever, or throw the whole thing away and start from scratch.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
Oh, yeah. I figure if I don’t talk to them, they won’t talk to you. The Western Horror genre is particularly tricky, however; especially when dealing with ghosts, gunfighters or a serial killers. I haven’t quite tallied everything up, but I think my characters have killed me off more times than I have them.
What advice would you give other writers?
To write right, live right. Read daily, write daily, but most importantly, live daily. Don’t get so wrapped up in what you write that you miss out on time spent with those whom you love and who love you.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I love the immediacy of self-publishing. Sure, I’ve made all kinds of mistakes the past few years, however, if I went the traditional route, it would have taken me a lot longer to learn the craft of writing and story telling; and I’m not as young as Springtime anymore, so I figured the opportunities self-publishing provide today have helped me to achieve some of my goals sooner. Were I 20, 30, or even 40, I might have given traditional publishing a shot, but most agents who would be dealing with me might not like the idea that I have shoes older than they are.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
The Internet, eBooks and print-on-demand offers a wonderful opportunity for anyone to be published… even an old coot like myself. Sure, bypassing the gatekeepers of Traditional Publishing will open the gates to a flood of dreck and dribble, but the discerning reader will weed them out. Hasn’t it been wonderful to discover brand new voices, short stories, novellas and novels that, were it not for self-publishing, we would have never heard of them, let alone read their work. Yes, it may take a lot of digging in the mine shaft to pull up ore worth keeping, but it’s sure worth it when you find a big gold nugget… and more than worth it when you strike the mother load.
What do you use?: Co-writer, Professional Cover Designer, Beta Readers
What genres do you write?: horror, paranormal, crime thriller, suspense
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
P. K. Vandcast Home Page Link
Link To P. K. Vandcast Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
Facebook
Twitter
All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit to allow you the reader to hear the author in their own voice.
